1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pill dispensers and more particularly to a pill dispenser for dispensing a pill from a blister pack to a collector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many medications are produced in discreet units, in the form of pills or capsules, to be taken orally. Each unit is manufactured so as to contain an exact measured dosage. A patient may maintain correct and consistent dosage by taking a prescribed course of uniform units according to a planned schedule. Units of medication in the form of pills and capsules, collectively referred to as pills, are typically packaged and delivered loose in a relatively small container, such as a bottle or a canister. A patient usually opens the container, dispenses a number of pills into a palm, manipulates the pills to retain, in the palm, a number of pills corresponding to the scheduled dosage, and tips the remaining pills back into the container. This practice causes repeated handling of the pills and often leads to spilling and/or losing of a number of pills.
In order to avoid the potential for mishaps when dispensing pills from a container, pharmaceutical suppliers have developed the blister pack. The blister pack comprises a sheet of plastic having an array of spaced apart blisters protruding from an obverse surface of the sheet. Each blister is open to a reverse surface of the sheet and serves as a separate compartment. A single pill is deposited in each compartment and a sheet of metal foil is affixed to the reverse surface of the sheet, closing the compartments, and separately sealing each pill. When a pill is needed, a patient may select a particular compartment, press the blister to collapse the compartment, rupturing the foil, and releasing the pill. Unused pills remain sealed in the compartments of the blister pack, until they are removed for use. The blister pack avoids the potential for spilling a number of pills during the process of removing a single dose of medication. In addition, the blister pack facilitates tracking the number of pills previously administered, because a patient may count the number of opened compartments. Also, sanitary conditions are improved because the supply of pills is not handled repeatedly.
Unfortunately, the process of pressing a compartment and retrieving a pill as it passes through the foil on the reverse side of the blister pack is difficult, particularly for elderly patients, who may have impaired vision and reduced manual dexterity. There is a need for a device, which can dispense a pill from a blister pack reliably and which can deposit the pill into a collector from which the pill may be easily retrieved. There is a need for a pill dispenser, which is compact and manually operated, to deliver a single pill from a blister pack to a collector.